Fade to Black
by Angel's girl
Summary: It's Buffy and Angel and...just read and review.
1. Default Chapter

Fade to Black Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own them I just play with them.

Spoilers: There most likely is.

Dedication: To those who have told me they like my stories.

Feedback: PLEASE.

Fade to Black

It's a beautiful spring day. The sun is shining brightly and there is barely a cloud in the sky and there is just enough of a breeze to make it comfortable. The sounds of laughter fill the air as people enjoy the day. Couples walking at a languid pace hand in hand, seeing nothing but each other. It's days like this that I hate the most.

Funny isn't it, that I could hate such a day as this but I do. I would much rather be bathed in the moonlight, have the dark of night envelope me like a lover's embrace and see the stars all twinkly in the black sky and hear nothing but the sound of…well nothing. To me to enjoy the sunlight and the daytime and laughter is just…wrong.

I am pulled out of my reverie as I feel a hand caress mine and my stomach turns because that too is wrong. I am glad I am wearing sunglasses that hide my eyes because I know he would see the disgust written so plainly in them. I force a smile and try to find a reason to move my hand before my stomach really does turns.

I pull my hand away to lift my wine to my lips and I can sense his feeling of rejection and somewhat disapproval at my drinking so early in the day. I can't help it though. I need the alcohol to make me numb, to burn the pain, to cope. It's not his fault I feel this way. It's never their fault. I should know by now not to get involved but I don't want to be alone.

Well no, that's not right because even when I am with them I am still alone. I don't want to be lonely. Someone once told me that loneliness is the scariest thing in the world and they were right. Sometimes I wonder though if maybe it would be better to feel lonely than feel the way I do now. Cause all I feel is sick.

Maybe I feel sick because of the company I have with me right now, or maybe it's because of the third glass of wine I am currently drinking at ten o'clock in the morning but I know the real reason. Now whether or not I'll ever admit to it is another story completely.

So I sit there in a little sidewalk café, mid-morning with the latest in a long line of men who have come along trying to fill the ever growing void in my soul. I have a cigarette in one hand that I'm not smoking just using to keep my hand occupied so I don't have to hold his, and my glass of wine dangles precariously from the other. The wine however I am drinking to dull the ache I feel somewhere near where my heart used to be.

I'm not paying attention to my companion, just nodding in what I consider the appropriate places and I know sooner or later he's going to get fed up and leave the way they always do, so I try harder to at least concentrate on what he's saying to me.

Unfortunately that's when I felt it. A tingling sensation and then a flooding of warmth. It started at the base of my neck and burned throughout my body like a raging wildfire. I could feel my pulse begin to race and I could feel my blood begin to thunder through my veins and the scar on my neck was almost vibrating.

The intensity of this onslaught had me on my feet. I knew I was gasping for air and my eyes had gone wide, my sunglasses haven been pulled from my face. Kevin, my companion was concerned and was calling out to me. I knew he was talking to me, calling out my name but he sounded distant, far away. It almost felt like I was underwater. I didn't pay any attention to Kevin or to any of the other patrons of the café who were now frantically asking me if I was okay.

Was I okay? Ha what a joke. I was far from okay when I was sitting quietly with my glass of wine let alone now. Now I am anything but okay. In fact I am about as far from okay as one could possibly get. I am trying desperately to fight these feelings that have crashed into me like a tidal wave, trying to fight what they mean. It can't be, I must be having a heart attack because I only feel like this when _he's_ near.

I find myself scanning the beach beside my little café. I keep trying to convince myself that I won't see him, that I am dying or something. That there is some other reasonable explanation for what I am experiencing but then I see a silhouette in the distance. A man walking with a shirt unbuttoned and exposing a perfect expanse of tanned muscle. He is wearing thin cotton pants and is carrying sandals in his hands and the morning sun is giving him a golden aura. As he gets closer to me I can see dark spiky hair and the familiar angles of his face and I know in a moment that my hazel will meet his chocolate.

The man on the beach stops walking a moment as if he can feel me staring at him and he looks up. He turns and then his chocolate find and meet my hazel. For a moment we just stare and then he smirks at me. That little half grin that always seemed to be just for me.

Oh. My. God.

Okay earlier when I said I was as far from okay as one could possibly get…I lied. What I am going through now is worse, tenfold. My heart is pounding so loudly it's all I can hear and it feels like it will explode from the intensity. I feel like a deer trapped in the headlights of an oncoming car and I barely notice that the wine glass has slipped from my fingers, my cigarette long forgotten and I am only vaguely aware of the glass hitting the ground because as the image of him blurs in my tears I feel my legs give away and I feel my body give chase to the glass.

My eyes flutter open and I can see people standing around me and I'm still not quite sure that I haven't had a heart attack. My head hurts and when I reach up to it my hair feels wet. Maybe I'm bleeding, I'm not sure it could just be the wine from my forgotten glass. I look up and I can see Kevin, worry etched in his face and behind him, for the briefest moment I think I see _him; _Angel, and I struggle to sit up, to reach for him. However I have hit my head, hard, the sudden movement makes me dizzy and I can feel hands pushing me back down as my vision swims and everything collides together. 

"Shhh Buffy, just relax a minute. You've hit your head pretty hard."

I _know_ that I have hit my head pretty hard and I probably have a concussion but I would swear on my mother's grave though, that it was Angel's voice, not Kevin's I heard. I want to ask.

"Angel," I whisper before everything fades to black.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Should I continue with this or give up now. Let me know.


	2. Fade to Black Chapter 1

Fade to Black Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own them I just play with them.

Spoilers: There most likely is.

Dedication: To those who have told me they like my stories.

Feedback: PLEASE.

Fade to Black

Chapter 2

I know that something isn't right. I can't open my eyes and my voice escapes me but everything in me tells me I'm in a hospital and not sitting at the little café with Kevin anymore. I can recognize the familiar beeping of machines that are monitoring me from having spent entirely too many nights in hospital after some demon took a good piece of me before I sent it screaming into hell, and there is a smell in the air, a smell that I have all but gotten way to used to. It's the smell of death. It's one of the things I have learned to recognize being the Slayer.

The Slayer. I used to be her, the Chosen One. The concept of being the world's champion seems almost foreign to me now. These days I'm not much of anything, least of all Buffy Summers. I'm just a shell. Oh sure outwardly blonde hair, hazel eyes, petite, muscular yep I fit the physical description but inside…inside I have been slowly losing myself. I've lost the will to fight for myself or anyone else.

I tried for so long to believe that I would be okay. I fought hard to keep my head above the murky waters of the depression I was drowning in. Somewhere along the way though I just lost my spirit, that little piece of me that thought I was worth it.

I think I stopped trying after my mother died. I kept losing people starting with _him_ but it seemed like everyone that ever came into my life walked right back out of it. It didn't matter how long they stuck around for because each one of them decided they'd had enough fun at the carnival called Buffy and they wanted to go home.

Most of them left without my noticing much less caring. How could I care what they did when I couldn't stop caring about what _he _did to me long enough to let anyone else in?

I can hear voices in the room. Some aren't familiar and I figure them to be doctors or nurses that now bear the burden of fixing me. God if only that were possible. If only I could leave this place and be the Buffy I was years ago. The Buffy who fought and loved and cared and laughed. Laughter, I almost can't remember what that is. It's been so long since I've had anything to laugh about. I want to though, I really do.

The other voices I hear are familiar to me so I try to open my eyes to let them know I'm okay.

All right maybe I'm not as okay as I'd like them to believe because it's taking every last ounce of strength I have, which isn't much, just to open my eyes and focus in on the faces that crowd my small room. It takes me a minute or two but now I look around and I see Kevin standing against the wall at the foot of my bed.

Our eyes connect and I can't help but feel guilty at the way I have treated him. He give me a small smile of understanding and that only pushes the knife in a little further.

"She's awake." I hear him say and immediately three other faces come into view.

The first face I focus in on is Giles. Giles my mentor, my rock and the father I have been missing since my parents divorced. I can see worry and concern etched into his features. He gives me a smile and places a hand on my leg.

"How are you Buffy?"

"Okay I guess although I'm not quite sure what happened." 

"Well no matter. You're here with us still and the doctors have found nothing seriously wrong so you just rest."

I can see that he has his glasses in his hands and he is wiping them almost compulsively. Which tells me one thing…he's worried.

Next I see Xander. He tries to smile and be light and Xander-y but I can see the unshed tears glistening in his eyes and when he tries to speak his sense of humor fails him but the love comes shining through like a beacon.

"Hey Buff, you need anything?"

"No Xander…I'm good."

"Are you? I mean good, really good because I gotta say…"

"Xander!"

Now that's my Willow. She's always been so protective of me, understanding me on a deeper level that Xander and Giles didn't get. I look into her face and she makes no effort to hide the fear that is written so clearly. She grabs my hand and squeezes tightly and I know that it is her way of telling me she has her own theory about what happened and what or rather who caused it. Willow turns to the guys and asks them to give her a minute with me alone. To their questioning stares she simply replies…girl stuff. Giles tells her that they will be in the cafeteria having something to eat and for her to find them there when she is done. Willow nods and we both watch as the men file solemnly out of my room.

The door has barely shut behind Kevin when she asks.

"So you going to tell me how this has nothing to do with Angel?"

I open my mouth to speak but I find I don't know what I'm going to say to her because she's right. What happened today was classic Angel. I also know that Willow is feeling guilty over not knowing how bad it still was. I guess I had still done a pretty good job of convincing every one else that I had moved on, that Angel was a part of my distant past. Fresh waves of guilt surged through me as I saw the hurt in her eyes.

"Will I can't tell you that this wasn't about Angel because it was. I know I have been acting like I had moved on and that I was content without him but I haven't and I'm not."

"I don't understand Buffy. You have had a lot of boyfriends since Angel; you got out all the time. You have been acting like happy Buffy and I just don't understand."

"That's just it Will, I've been acting. I couldn't let any of you know just how bad I was hurting. I didn't want to disappoint any of you and …I hoped that one day it wouldn't be an act."

"So what happened today?"

"I felt him Will. I felt him and when I looked he was there."

"You saw him?"

I looked into Willow's face trying to find a way to describe what had happened when I saw something else besides her concern…I saw guilt. Willow knew something she wasn't saying and I had a feeling that she hadn't shared this knowledge with Xander, Giles and most especially Kevin.

"Will you know something don't you?"

I ignore the pain that rips through me as I try to sit up.

"Willow?"

But before I can question her any further or she can even answer me I am once again assaulted with the feeling. My body is humming and it's suddenly hard to breathe. A cold sweat breaks out over my body and I look up at Willow with something akin to fear in my eyes I'm sure. My head is swimming, my blood is rushing, my eyes are beginning to blur as salty tears well up in them. I grab a hold of the bedrail so hard my knuckles have gone white and I try to steel myself against what seeing him will do to me. It feels like an eternity that I'm left in this limbo, purgatory almost of suffering until I close my eyes and lower my head. 

"He's here," I say barely above a whisper and then both Willow and I turn our eyes towards the doorway and I hear someone gasp although I'm not sure if its Wills or me that has done it. He is standing in the doorway to my room looking even more exquisite than I remembered from the beach.

"Angel." I breathe his name out and he takes a tentative step towards me.

"Buffy."


	3. Fade to Black Chapter 3

Fade to Black Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own them I just play with them.

Spoilers: There most likely is.

Dedication: To those who have told me they like my stories.

Feedback: PLEASE.

Author's Note: words in italics are lyrics from Still by Reba Macintyre.

Fade to Black

Chapter 3

_Thousands of people live in this town and I had to run into him._

_When I saw him there on that busy street those feelings came back again._

_There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, he walked up to me and looked in my eyes…_

_And still, my world stood still._

_I couldn't move and all I could feel was this aching in my heart saying I loved him still._

_ _

"Buffy."

Angel stood in the doorway to my room. He looked incredible, more so than I had remembered. The hair on the top of his head was lighter and if I had to describe it I would have to say the sun kissed the top of his head the way he used to kiss mine. He had a slight tan but you could still see the healthy pink glow to his skin. I could see the rise and fall of his chest and it was amazing almost hypnotic. We all take things like breathing for granted but when you haven't taken a breath in your lungs for almost three centuries it was truly a sight to behold.

Well it hasn't exactly been that long since he took a breath out of necessity rather than habit. There was that day that we shared. That perfect day when his humanity was accidentally bestowed upon him. How I marveled at the feel of his sweet warm breath on my face and neck and the sound of his heart beating in his chest. No other sound has ever sounded as sweet to my ears as that of Angel's heartbeat. That day was something out of my dreams, dreams that have once again come true.

I trailed my eyes up and down the length of him until they came to settle on his face and more specifically into his own eyes. Once again I found myself lost in those beautiful mysterious orbs. It's all about the eyes with Angel. I can't get enough of those big brown puppy dog eyes of his. They used to speak for him when words failed him. One look and I could see love, anger, hatred, disappointment, frustration and hurt, you name it and I could read it just by looking into his eyes.

I heard someone say once that the eyes are the windows to the soul and no truer words have been spoken when it comes to Angel. His soul shines brightly there. When I fought Angelus and he was trying to bring forth Acathla and Willow had re-cursed him it was his eyes that told me Angel was back. Like I said with Angel it's all about the eyes. Not that the rest of him isn't something to look at because he is breathtaking.

I mean that literally because Willow has had to poke me and make me let go of the breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Angel just does that to me. I drop my gaze and take an extra breath before looking back up at him. I want to say something to him; anything but when I open my mouth all I can say is his name. 

"Angel." 

Never has so much emotion gone into one word before. I have so much that I want to say, that I want to ask but once again I feel the tears welling up and I can't open my mouth without a sob escaping. I want nothing more than to have him here but I am worried about Kevin coming upstairs however not as much as I am about Giles and Xander. I look to Willow and without speaking she understands what it is I want her to do. She gives my hand a squeeze and then walks over to Angel.

"Angel you being here isn't a good idea so why don't we take a walk." She puts her hand on his arm and Angel looks from Willow to me and I can see panic and hurt flash in his eyes. I try to speak but words fail me and Willow doesn't miss a beat.

"Angel it's just that Buffy has visitors downstairs that won't understand you being here."

Angel's eyes haven't left me and I can see he is looking for some sign that I want to see him. I can tell by the look on his face that he is searching for the right words to say to me. The perfect question to which my answer will tell him everything he wants to know. He takes a breath and closes his eyes and then his eyes find mine as I wait with bated breath and then…

"You still my girl?" He asks and I can hear both fear and hope in his voice. It has come out barely above a whisper and anyone else wouldn't have heard it, anyone but a Slayer. He stands firm and I can tell that he won't let Willow lead him away until I give him an answer. And I know that my answer will decide whether he just walks out of my room or back out of my life.

I look down at my hands a moment playing with my fingers and trying so hard not to cry. So much had happened in the past ten years. I had fallen in love the first time I looked into his eyes. I saw his true face the first time we kissed and still I loved him. I gave myself to him heart, mind, body and soul and in the process I destroyed his. I sent him to hell and subsequently brought him back. He broke up with me and headed off to LA and took everything good in me with him. We shared one perfect day that showed me somewhere somehow dreams do come true. He came to my side when I needed him most, when mom died.

We went around in circles. No matter how far we strayed, no matter what fate threw at us we always found our way back to one another. Case in point, here he stands in my hospital room six long years since he held me last at my mother's graveside. So after everything we'd gone through, after all we'd said and done. After all the hurt and tears shed was I still his girl?

_Thousands of people live in this town and I had to run into him._

_When I saw him there on that busy street those feelings came back again._

_There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, he walked up to me and looked in my eyes…_

_And still, my world stood still._

_I couldn't move and all I could feel was this aching in my heart saying I loved him still._

I took a deep shuddering breath and wiped the tears from my eyes and then I brought my gaze back to his and I held it there a moment before I did something I haven't done in so very long.

I smiled and then gave him his answer.

"Always."

Satisfied for the moment Angel allows himself to be pulled out of the room by Willow. I watch the door for a few minutes after he has gone and then I try to get a grip on my emotions. 


	4. Fade to Black Chapter 4

Fade to Black Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own them I just play with them.

Spoilers: There most likely is.

Dedication: To those who have told me they like my stories.

Feedback: PLEASE.

Fade to Black

Chapter 4

I sat and stared at the space in the doorway that Angel had occupied only moments before and knew my life was once again going to be turned ass over feet like it had the very first time I met him and I wasn't sure where to begin sorting out the mess.

//

Is there a problem ma'am?

Yeah there's a problem. Why are you following me?

I know what you're thinking. I don't bite.

//

I wasn't really focused in on anything, well except Angel; my mind was too preoccupied to focus. So preoccupied that I didn't hear Kevin come into the room.

"Hey."

I turned my head to see Kevin leaning on the doorframe almost hesitant to come in. Come to think of it, it looked as if he was waiting for an invitation or else he was otherwise denied just like a vampire.

"Hey. You can come in and sit down."

"I know, I just wasn't …I didn't want to bother you."

I couldn't help the guilty feelings that surged through me. 

"You…you don't bother me Kevin."

"Could've fooled me."

Kevin's words were so soft that if I hadn't had the enhanced super hearing of a Slayer I wouldn't have heard him. Again I felt my cheeks flush, stained with guilt. It was in that moment that I knew Angel or no Kevin and I were done. 

There was an awkward silence that hung thickly in the air and before I could say anything further to Kevin the doctor walked in.

"Miss Summer's?"

"Yes."

"I…I'll catch up with you later Buffy."

"We'll talk later. Promise."

He just nodded and I reached out and took his hand and squeezed it gently. I gave him a weak smile and he leaned in and kissed my cheek.

"Goodbye Buffy."

"Goodbye Kevin."

With tears in my eyes I watched him retreat out of my room and it pulled at my heart to know that his goodbye was permanent. I turned my attentions back to my doctor who had busied himself with forms while I spoke to Kevin.

"So what's the scoop?" I asked trying not to sound as if my whole world was just pulled out from underneath me.

"Well Buffy, we can't find any medical reason for the episode you had yesterday.

"So what does that mean for me?"

"That means…that you are coming home with Willow and me and we are going to make you rest and get better even if it means I have to tie you to the bed and sit on you if you misbehave." Xander quipped as he and Willow and Giles wandered back into the room.

"So I'm going home?"

"Yes I am going to discharge you this afternoon. I want you to rest and I have given instructions to your friends as to what your limitations are. If you experience anything similar to yesterday then I want you to come right back here okay?"

"Yes doctor."

"Remember Buffy, rest."

"Yes cause if your bad…(Xander pulled out a pair of handcuffs and smiled evilly) are you feeling bad Buffy?"

SMACK

"Wh…wh…what? Can I just say OW?"

"You are so disgusting Xander. I'm having major gross imagery, no offense Buffy, it's just Xander…bondage…"

After unwittingly allowing that mental image to form.

"EWWWWWWWWW," Willow and I said in unison.

"Okay now that hurts." Xander replied with a hangdog look on his face.

"Yes, quite. If we could maybe do without any references to Xander's sexual fantasies."

"Sorry Buffy, Willow, Giles. I'll just start taking Buffy's stuff down to the car.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The gang had wanted to make a production about me being home from the hospital but I feigned fatigue and managed to convince them that all I wanted to do was curl up on my couch under my comfy blanket and watch TV until I fell asleep.

We arrived at my condo and they all came in and began hovering. It became quite apparent that it was going to take some doing to get a little Buffy alone time.

"Guys I thought we went over this. I'm tired and I'm going to veg out. You know lay like broccoli in front of the boob tube until I pass out."

I watched as Xander paced back and forth in my living room. I knew what was buzzing around in that head of his just from the intense look on his face and so I sat down on the couch and just waited for the inevitable. 

Xander was so predictable. I almost had to bite back a smile as I watched him muster of the courage to begin his speech because as fucked up as he thought I might be I was still the Slayer and could wipe the floor with his ass. He stopped pacing and I began to count. 5…4…3…2…1…

"Buffy." Bingo!

"Buffy about Kevin…"

"Kevin is none of your business."

"Yes I know but…"

"No buts, Kevin is my business and I don't want to discuss him with you."

"You're going to break up with him aren't you?"

"Xander."

He wasn't going to let up on this. I could see that much in his eyes and the fact that he was blatantly ignoring the warning I held in my voice.

"And another one bites the dust. Why Buffy, Kevin is a nice guy. What did he do?"

All right he wants to do this fine. I just hope he remembers that when you play with fire you always get burned. I take a deep breath, stood up and then looked him plainly and squarely in the eye.

"I know Kevin is a nice guy Xander. They've all been nice. Believe me I feel guilty as all hell for what has happened with Kevin, with all of them but there's nothing I can do about it."

"You can too do something. You just don't want to. I think you enjoy this Buffy pity party."

"Xander you walk a mile in my shoes and then you judge me."

"I have Buffy. I'm there every step of the way with you. I have fought what you have, seen what you've seen, I understand so don't tell me…"

I could feel my blood begin to boil and I suddenly didn't care about saving face anymore. To put it quite plainly I snapped.

"Don't you DARE try to tell me that you understand. You understand shit Xander. My life hasn't been my own since I turned fifteen. YOU didn't have your life ripped upside down because you were supposed to be some chosen one. YOU didn't have your parents spilt up because of their "problem child". YOU didn't have your so called friends totally snub you even after you saved their miserable asses from vampires who would have drain their pathetic lives dry had I not been there. YOU didn't have to see your Watcher die because you weren't good enough. YOU didn't have to move to a completely new town only to find out that you are sitting on top of the worlds fucking largest demon magnet. YOU don't have any idea what it's been like for me everyday since I became the Slayer."

I was shaking with both anger and grief. Xander took a step towards me but I pulled away. I wasn't finished.

"I didn't ask for this, I didn't ask to be the Slayer. I didn't ask to have my normal life ripped from my hands. You know where the door is. I suggest you use it."

With that I turned on my heel and stormed down the hall and slammed my bedroom door so loudly behind me that the walls shook. Sometimes Slayer strength wasn't a good thing.

Things got real quiet in the living room and I paced my room trying to get control of the rage that was flowing through my veins chilling me like ice. I began doing Tai chi, remembering how Angel and I had done it to gain focus. I don't know how much time had passed before I ventured out towards my kitchen. I walked out and down the hall but instead of turning right towards my little kitchenette I turned left back towards my living room. Sitting in the dark quietly was Willow.

Seeing her sitting there somehow made something click in my heart and my head.

"You knew about Angel didn't you?" Although it was a question it sounded like a statement.

"Yes, I did."

I knew in my heart that it was true. I had seen it in her eyes earlier at the hospital, felt it when she squeezed my hand but to hear that come from her mouth. To hear the actual words 'yes I did' come out of Willow's mouth. Needless to say it hurt.

"Cordelia and I have stayed in touch over the years. You know keeping each other apprised of the going's on in our respective cities."

"You mean gossiping about me and Angel."

"It wasn't like that Buffy."

Is that how he found me? Is that how he happened to be on that beach?

"Angel being here was a pure coincidence. He didn't know we where talking either." She said as if she could read my thoughts. "So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to start with hello."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: What can I say…I need it…I crave it…. Feedback. How am I doing?


	5. Fade to Black Chapter 5

Fade to Black Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own them I just play with them.

Spoilers: There most likely is.

Dedication: To those who have told me continue, your talented, I want more and my fav…OH Yeah!

Feedback: PLEASE.

Author's Note: Lyrics at the end are Amazed by Lone Star

Fade to Black

Chapter 5

I walked into Chez Marie and right up to the Maitre'd and smiled.

"Yes I have a reservation for eight."

"You're name Miss?"

"Summers, Buffy Summers."

"This way Miss."

I followed him through the quaint restaurant until he stopped in front of a small elegant table for two. It was private and quiet and it was beautifully decorated. It reminded me of a picture I'd seen in a Victorian catalogue. It had a long flowing tablecloth with matching napkins, fine china and crystal. The flatware glinted in the candlelight and there was a bottle of champagne on ice. It was perfect. I smoothed my dress over my legs as I sat and waited for what I knew would feel like an eternity. 

Willow had been gracious in helping me get ready for tonight. She helped to style my hair into a cascade of golden curls that seemed to pour down my back like a silken waterfall. She helped to do makeup to make it look I hadn't a stitch of it on but somehow I now had a flawless complexion of creamy smooth skin. Peaches and cream is the term I think. My eyelashes seemed impossibly long and feathery soft.My eyes emphasized with the barest hint of eye shadow and eyeliner but obtaining the maximum effect. A hint of blush, very realistically mimicking a natural blush, gently stained my cheeks and my lips well I opted for a shade of a sun ripened peach.

As for the outfit…well I look outstanding if I do say so myself. I am wearing a blue dress that sits off my shoulders and gives the illusion that you are seeing more cleavage than you really are and it fits nice thru the bodice only to loosely flare out at the waist. I have sheer stockings on and a garter, which show my legs nicely in my high-heeled sandals.

Although if you ask my opinion I'd say the jewelry is what makes the strongest statement here. Around my neck is my thick silver cross and the only ring I wear is my claddaugh, heart pointed in.

I glanced at my watch and sipped my ice water. I told my waiter that I would wait to order until my companion arrived which would be any moment now. I look up and have to smile to myself as I see him approach. He doesn't know that I'm here and he doesn't know he is heading directly for my table. 

I had a long talk with Willow when I found her still sitting in my living room and I had found out a lot of things about Angel. Some things I fully intended to use to my advantage. Other things though just helped me to understand what he had been doing for the past six years.

Willow told me about Angel's delve into the dark abyss that was his resurrected bitch of a Sire. Well actually Wills got Cordy on speakerphone and she spilled the dirt on my beloved. Like I said I found out about Darla and the law firm that tortured him and haunted him into abandoning his friends and his purpose and almost unleashing the most vile, sadistic bastard who was sure to heave one hell of a stick up his ass about being locked away for so long…again, and for those of you who weren't around to enjoy the massacre, and I do mean massacre as in bloody torturous deaths, that was my seventeenth birthday then let me share. The vile bastard in question is Darla's wayward Childe; Angelus now known as, yep you got it, Angel.

It took all the self-control I could muster not to find some means of transportation, even if I had to steal it, and make my way to Los Angeles and hunt both Darla and Drucilla down and show them a thing or two about torture. I wanted to make them hurt in ways only a vampire could hurt before showed them their dead hearts that I ripped from their chests. Second to that I wanted to go and obliterate and trace of this law firm and the self-righteous bastards that dared go after her Angel.

//

Nobody messes with my boyfriend.

//

Cordelia explained all about the prophecy that led to his shanshu, or redemption. I sat and listened while she filled me in on all the little things that I had missed out on because he was there living his life with his friends and she was in Sunnydale trying desperately not to self destruct.

By the time I heard all Cordelia and Willow had to say I already had a plan.

I sat in my chair and watched with bated breath as he came closer and closer, my body responding to his as if I had been struck with lightening. He walked with his head down and was dressed in a suit similar to that of the Maitre'd. Closer, closer, I was near ready to jump out of my skin as I waited for him to notice me and he was almost completely past me before he stopped walking and finally lifted his head.

I watched with something akin to awe as I watched his body react to my proximity. It was quite incredible. He stood still and I would swear he sniffed the air before he slowly turned towards the direction of the scent. He was now facing me but his eyes were closed. I heard his breath catch in his throat.

It seemed like an eternity that he stood like that, just smelling the air with his eyes closed. Just when I thought I was going to have to stand he opened his eyes and then those absolutely perfect chocolate brown orbs connected with my hazel and tears slipped down both our cheeks. Before the first tear from my eyes could slip off my cheek he was there and I was swept up into his arms. One hand rested on the small of my back the other caressing my face as he kissed my tears away.

It was only a moment before his lips went from my cheeks to the tip of my nose and then finally I felt their warmth on mine. I couldn't help the anguished cry that slipped past my lips as my body cried out in remembrance at his touch. Soft feather light kisses soon became laden with passion when I felt his tongue caress my lips, his way of asking for an invitation. Without hesitation I let my lips part and I felt his tongue sweep my mouth and caress my tongue and it was like heaven. 

I tightened my embrace, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck and fisting my hands into his hair. I pressed myself as tightly to him as I could, wanting to be a part of him as my sense delighted in him. My senses felt like they were going into sensory overload and I felt a little dizzy. He wrapped his arms securely around my waist and then lifted me up so that he was standing straight which meant I was dangling at least a foot off the ground.

Suddenly the sound of applause filled my ears and I groaned audibly in protest when Angel lowered me back to the ground and pulled away. We both turned to see the patrons of the restaurant in its entirety on their feet and applauding our little reunion. I couldn't stop the flush of crimson in my cheeks or the giggle that passed my lips as Angel's gaze once more found mine.

"Hello Buffy," He breathed.

For the second time in as many days I had a genuine smile on my face as I whispered,

"Hello."

Every time our eyes meet 

_This feeling inside me_

_Is almost more than I can take_

_Baby when you touch me_

_I can feel how much you love me_

_And it just blows me away_

_I've never been this close to anyone or anything_

_I can hear your thoughts _

_I can see your dreams_

_ _

_I don't know how you do what you do_

_I'm so in love with you_

_It just keeps getting better_

_I want to spend the rest of my life_

_With you by my side_

_Forever and ever_

_Every little thing that you do_

_Baby I'm amazed by you_

_ _

_The smell of your skin _

_The taste of your kiss_

_The way you whisper in the dark_

_You're hair all around me_

_Baby you surround me_

_You touch every place in my heart_

_Oh it feels like the first time every time_

_I want to spend the whole night in your eyes_

_ _

_I don't know how you do what you do_

_I'm so in love with you_

_It just keeps getting better_

_I want to spend the rest of my life_

_With you by my side_

_Forever and ever_

_Every little thing that you do_

_Baby I'm amazed by you_

_ _

_ _

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I need feedback…please doesn't torture me…is it good? Cause if it is it's not done yet! Let me know.


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